20
USING THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL from his pilot host, Sam gave his chutes’ directional cords a pull to get a quick final deceleration as his feet touched the ground. He was in a small clearing where the tree canopy had given him a 20-foot diameter opening which he bulls-eyed and brought the parachute through to the ground without being snagged.
He pulled the chute releases as he hit the ground running. Taking a quick reading of the sun’s position, Sam confirmed he was headed in a northwesterly direction and adjusted to a fast-paced jog. The pilot had standard army training and was in good shape physically, so that was working in Sam’s favor. The pilot wore a watch, so he set the timer to two hours which was the amount of time Julia had given him to complete the assignment. He had landed
